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Madeline and the Cats of Rome
'''Madeline and the Cats of Rome '''is a book written and illustrated by John Bemelmans Marciano. Plot It's a rainy, miserable spring in Paris so Ms. Clavel elects to take the Girls and Genevieve on a trip. They pack up their bags and a camera and board a train out of Paris at 9:30 in the morning. The train leaves France and heads southeast across the Alps. They eventually reach their destination, Rome Italy. After checking into a hotel, the group spends the whole day exploring the city of Rome from the Spanish Steps to the Sistine Chapel. They sample delicious Italian cuisine and take many photos of their adventure. As the day starts to wind down, Ms. Clavel organizes one last group picture. Just then, a thief rushes by and steals her camera! Madeline and Genevieve bolt after the thief. She is small and fast, but so is Madeline. She tails her throughout the city before losing her. Just as she pouts at the injustice of losing the camera, a stray cat comes by and brushes up against her. Madeline likes the cat, but Genevieve, being a dog, does not! She charges after the cat who scurries into a nearby abandoned building. Madeline follows. Inside the abandoned house Madeline finds a whimpering Genevieve in the darkness. All around them are piercing, cat eyes. The house is a colony to all the stray cats of Rome. Suddenly a voice strongly tells Madeline to leave. She turns to find it's the thief, a young street girl named Caterina. Caterina declares that she is the protector of the cats of Colonia Felina. She tells Madeline that she steals from tourists like the Parisian school so she may feed her cats and herself. Madeline angrily tells her that stealing is wrong, regardless of her intent. Caterina tells her she doesn't know what it's like to be hungry and cold. Caterina gracelessly returns the camera so Madeline and Genevieve will leave. They do so, but quickly become lost in the evening maze of streets. Madeline has also forgotten the name of their hotel. They come across a tourist couple who ask if Madeline can take their picture. She obliges, but while they're distracted, Caterina sneaks behind the couple and steals their wallets! She mockingly thanks Madeline as she rushes away. The couple is quite stunned and calls for help. As Caterina rounds the corner, she's caught by a police officer. The couple then points out Madeline and Genevieve, accusing them of being accomplices of Caterina's theft. Meanwhile Ms. Clavel and the Girls are at the police station filing a missing persons report for Madeline. The clerk informs her that a second little girl is missing. A man and his wife are at the station looking for her, crying in despair as they are fearing the worst. The police officer then walks in with Madeline, Caterina and Genevieve. Madeline is red in the face with embarrassment while Caterina is crying. Ms. Clavel and the Girls rush to hug Madeline, glad to see that she's alright. It also turns out the couple is Caterina's parents who are quite thankful to see her as well. Madeline is livid that Caterina lied to her about being an orphan. Caterina sheepishly admits that she just wanted to help the cats and frets over their well being. The Girls wonder how they can help and Madeline comes up with an idea. The next day the Girls, Ms. Clavel, Genevieve, Caterina and her parents return to the abandoned house and take all the cats out to the public square. They set up a table (with the police officer's help) for passing tourists to adopt the cats. People visiting from all over the world adopt all of the cats. Ms. Clavel is so proud of the class and takes a final picture of the event. The last cat is adopted by Caterina who will take her to her home in Rome. She thanks Madeline for all her help. With a final goodbye, Madeline, the Girls, Ms. Clavel and Genevieve depart Rome for Paris by taxi. Amusing Details * The Pope (the leader of the Catholic Church) is seen walking by the Girls eating lunch near the Pantheon. * The European Union Flag (adopted in 1955) is seen at the hotel the class stays at. * This marks Genevieve's third and most recent appearance in the series. * This is the third time in the books the Girls have traveled outside of France. Category:Books